


in which Edie doesn't need a mutation to read minds

by melonbutterfly



Series: That First Year [2]
Category: X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: Coming Out, Edie knows everything, Falling In Love, First Crush, M/M, Mother-Son Relationship, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-03-23
Updated: 2012-03-23
Packaged: 2017-11-02 10:18:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 991
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/367890
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/melonbutterfly/pseuds/melonbutterfly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Erik sort of accidentally comes out to his mama, and also possibly talks a little about Charles. But he is the taciturn sort of person, really.</p>
            </blockquote>





	in which Edie doesn't need a mutation to read minds

"How is school going?", his mama asks two weeks into the year. So far, she has managed to refrain from asking again since that first day, but it's obvious she couldn't bear waiting for him to come to her to talk any longer. With a spark of irritation, he wonders whether she'll ever accept that he's just not that sort of person – whether she'll ever stop waiting for him to go back to being the boy he was before Genosha.

That boy is dead, though, or irrevocably transformed into something different, and Eric isn't sure he ever was the happy, chatty sort of person he sometimes thinks his mama wants him to be anyway. Not that it matters, because he isn't that kind of person now, and he'd rather like if she stopped expecting him to be.

"Okay," he replies, and then sighs and lets the irritation go. He can hardly blame her for wanting to know about his life, or for wishing Genosha never happened.

"Are you still friends with that boy Lorna talked about?", she enquires further, eyes firm on the dough she's kneading. Can't get proper bread anywhere here, Erik is rather glad his mama can bake proper bread herself. He wants to learn, which is why he's with her right now, watching.

"Charles, and yes." Erik doesn't correct her on the fact that they hadn't been friends then – aren't even now, not really. They're certainly getting there, but it's only been two weeks. He hesitates, feeling out himself as he thinks about what else he could tell her; that he thinks Charles might be interested in something different than friends, that Erik is fairly sure he himself is. He doesn't know how to put it, though, doesn't know what she'll say. He's never been interested in a guy like that – there had been some things at Genosha, but more notably after, during the meetings, with Emma and Logan. But that had been different; not purely physical, almost not at all, but also not born from the genuine desire to form a relationship.

Emma said her therapist was of the opinion it was an attempt to both exorcise the bad and revoke the closeness they had lost after Liberation. Erik doesn't care what it was; all he knows is that it won't happen again, not now that he knows how different it can be with just the hint of it he feels in Charles' presence. He doesn't regret that it happened, but he also doesn't regret that it won't happen again.

Somehow, his mama apparently reads at least part of this on his face – Erik didn't even notice her focus shift from the dough to his face – because suddenly her mouth drops open and she looks shocked, hands stilling. "Really?", she gasps, and Erik feels the blood drain from his face. Of course she notices that too; she immediately reaches out and takes his hand. It's both sticky and dry, dough and flour clinging to her skin. "You like this boy?", she asks gently. It's clear she doesn't mean platonically.

Erik attempts to both shrug and nod at the same time, face coloring red again. His mama smiles weakly and squeezes his hand, silent for a moment as she obviously sorts through her thoughts. She doesn't look disappointed or angry or ashamed – not that Erik had thought she would, but still, it's a relief.

Eventually, tentatively, she asks, "Is it just Charles or boys in general?"

"I don't know," Erik mumbles, unable to look her in the eye and instead staring at the wall. He's never made much of a distinction, at least not once he actually stopped operating only from a base of what was expected of him, of the general assumptions of people. All he knows is that Charles is rapidly becoming very important to him in a not entirely platonic way, and it's scary, but not like that.

"Alright," his mama says gently, likely reading these thoughts on his face as well. She squeezes his hand. "You don’t have to decide either way. It doesn't matter."

Is that true, though? Erik can't help but wonder. What will his mother say in ten years? He knows that she's always wanted lots of children and even more grandchildren, but that's unlikely to happen if he's truly gay. And what will his father say? He truly has no idea; it's not something they ever had cause to talk about.

"Erik." His mama leans in, face serious. "I promise. It's all fine."

Erik swallows and nods. He _wants_ to believe her.

With a slight exhale, she sits back. "Would you like to tell your father?"

Before he can think about it, Erik is already shaking his head. It's not that he doesn't trust his father, or loves him less; he's just less sure of his reaction, and he wasn't sure of his mother's to begin with either. They talk a lot about all kinds of things, and he doesn't think his papa would truly react negatively – not to mention that he'd never outcast Erik – but he's just not ready yet.

"Alright." Edie cups his face and smiles gently. "Would you like to tell me something about Charles? All I know is that he's apparently rather friendly, if he accompanied you to Lorna's school."

Erik licks his lips and thinks about where to start. "Yeah, he is. At first I thought it was just a welcoming thing, but he's really that nice, to everyone, but not in an annoying way." At that, Edie smiles, but she doesn't say anything, so after a moment Erik, trying to let all insecurities go for the moment – he wants her to understand that Charles is special – continues. "He likes to take things apart to find out how they work, all kinds of things, and put them back together differently. Yesterday, he…"

His mama smiles at him, hands folded in her lap, and just listens.


End file.
